A charter plane was allowed to take off on Monday after being held in rural France for a four-day human trafficking investigation, according to the Associated Press. The unmarked plane, a Legend Airlines A340, took off from Vatry Airport for India, with the wire reporting that 276 of the original 303 Indian passengers were aboard. Local authorities said that the remaining 25 people had requested asylum in France, according to the AP. The passengers, including a 21-month-old child and nearly a dozen unaccompanied minors, had been stranded in the airport’s terminal since Thursday, when the plane landed for refueling. Bound for Nicaragua out of the United Arab Emirates, the plane was grounded as authorities probed an anonymous tip that it could have been carrying trafficking victims. Two passengers were detained in the investigation but later released by a judge, who named them as “assisted witnesses” to the case, according to the AP. All 15 crew members were questioned and released, with the airline denying any involvement with a possible trafficking operation.
Editor’s note: This has been updated to reflect new figures reported by the Associated Press, citing authorities.
